2 House ethics attorneys suspended

Two attorneys for the House ethics committee have been placed on indefinite “paid administrative leave” stemming from serious problems within the secretive panel.

Morgan Kim, the deputy chief counsel and the lead attorney on the case of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), is one of the attorneys placed on leave, said several sources familiar with the controversy.

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Stacy Sovereign, another committee lawyer, was also put on leave, these sources said.

Blake Chisam, the chief counsel and staff director for the ethics panel, initially sought to fire Kim and Sovereign on Nov. 19, but was unable to do so.

However, the two attorneys are no longer assigned to any active cases, said the sources.

The ethics committee declined to comment on Kim's or Sovereign’s status, saying it does not speak publicly about internal committee issues or personnel status.

The ethics committee recently scored a huge victory when Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) was found guilty on 11 charges of violating House ethics rules. Rangel is expected to be censured by as early as Wednesday.

But the ethics committee has postponed an ethics trial for Waters, which was scheduled to begin Nov. 29. The delay angered Waters, who has publicly declared that she wants her case resolved before the end of this year. Waters has been charged with three counts of violating ethics rules for allegedly improperly intervening in late 2008 on behalf of a minority owned bank where her husband owned more than $350,000 worth of stock.

Waters and her chief of staff, Mikael Moore, have vehemently denied any accusation of wrongdoing and have sought to move forward an ethics trial for the California Democrat.

It is unclear if the decision to place Kim and Sovereign on paid leave was related to the Waters’ case or another matter, although they were placed in that status on the same day that Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), the chairwoman and ranking member of the committee, announced the Waters’ trial was delayed. The committee announced that it had new information, including e-mails from Moore, that would have an impact on the Waters’ matter.